The present invention relates to a computer-implemented technique generating a two-dimensional image of an article of clothing superimposed on an image of a person. More particularly, the present invention uses a two-dimensional image of the person and a three-dimensional model of the article of clothing to generate on a computer display device the two-dimensional image of article of clothing superimposed on the image of the person.
FIG. 1 shows a two dimensional image of a person 100 that may be in a picture, photograph or the like. FIG. 2A shows a two-dimensional image of an article of clothing, e.g., a pair of eye-glasses 102. FIG. 2B shows a two-dimensional image, in which pair of glasses 102 are superimposed on image of a person 100.
By superimposing an article of clothing on an image of a person, a user can see how he/she or another would look wearing the article of clothing without actually physically trying on that article of clothing. The term "superimposed," as used in connection with the description of this invention, refers to laying out of articles of clothing on the image of a person, which image serves as the background. A "user," in connection with the description of this invention, refers to someone who wishes to see himself/herself or another person wearing an article of clothing, without actually having himself/herself or another person trying on that article of clothing.
According to one current approach (also referred to herein as the "first approach"), a resultant two-dimensional image of an article of clothing superimposed on an image of a person (e.g., FIG. 2B) is realized by combining a three-dimensional model of an article of clothing and a three-dimensional model of the person and then by employing techniques well known to those skilled in the art, converting the resulting three-dimensional model to a two-dimensional image. Although the first approach attempts to precisely depict the person wearing the article of clothing, as shown in FIG. 2B, it is extremely time-consuming. By way of example, the process of scanning the three-dimensional model of the person is particularly time-consuming and cumbersome for the user or the operator of the system employed for superimposing the article of clothing on the image of a person. As another example, manipulating and storing the extensive data associated with the three-dimensional models during algorithmic processing is also time-consuming. In fact, the entire process of generating an image of a person wearing an article of clothing is so slow that the first approach is impractical and commercially unfeasible.
Another approach (also referred to herein as the "second approach") of generating the two-dimensional image of an article of clothing superimposed on an image of a person involves combining a two-dimensional image of the article of clothing (e.g., FIG. 2A) and a two-dimensional image of a person (e.g., FIG. 1). Although the second approach generates the image relatively quickly, it fails to show the image of selected article of clothing superimposed in a normal position on the image of the person when the position of the person (in the image of a person) is misaligned or shifted relative to the position of the article of clothing (in the image of the article of clothing). The second approach, therefore, tends to imprecisely depict the image of a person and an article of clothing together and renders this approach as a commercially non-viable technique for trying on clothes without actually wearing them.
Furthermore, the two approaches described above fail to effectively capture in their resulting two-dimensional image a "natural" look realized due to different properties associated with articles of clothing, e.g., the draping effect of soft fabrics on the image of a person produced by creases, wrinkles and/or bends in the soft fabric, the appropriate alignment of the article of clothing on the image of a person, etc. The term "natural look," as used in connection with the description of this invention, refers to the realistic visual effects created by an article of clothing when the article of clothing is actually worn by a person.
Further still, the second approach, in its attempt to generate the two-dimensional image of FIG. 2B, also fails to effectively deal with the presence of an extraneous object located on the image of a person where the image of an article of clothing is subsequently superimposed. By way of example, in FIG. 1, if the left eye in image of a person 100 was covered by the person's hand, then in its attempt to generate the two-dimensional image of FIG. 2B, the second approach depicts the eye-glasses erroneously covering the person's hand as opposed to correctly showing the eye-glasses in their typical or normal position, i.e. positioned underneath the person's hand. Consequently, the above-described second approach, in its attempt to generate the image of the person wearing the eye-glasses as shown in FIG. 2B, fails to deal with different properties of articles of clothing and/or an anomaly in the image of a person and, therefore, the resulting two-dimensional image is not a normal and/or natural representation of a person wearing the article of clothing.
What is therefore needed is a system and method for quickly and precisely generating a two-dimensional image of an article of clothing superimposed on an image of a person that depicts the person normally and naturally wearing the article of clothing (i.e. a photo realistic result), when in fact that person is not actually wearing that article of clothing.